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FLORIDA COORDINATING COUNCIL

FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

November 18th, 2005 Meeting

Homewood Suites, Pensacola, Florida

 

ACTION ITEMS FROM NOVEMBER 17TH PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

ACTION ITEMS FROM NOVEMBER 18TH

 

Budget Issues:

 

FLORIDA COORDINATING COUNCIL

FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

November 17, 2005 Meeting

 

Homewood Suites, Pensacola, Florida

 

COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARING

 

FCCDHH Members Attending: Chris Wagner, Julie Church, Evy Friend, Eloise Williams, Carolyn Franklin, Sarah Harris, Carol Christopherson, Laurie Gaylord, Rick Kottler, Stan Gustetic, Tanya Ward English, Joan Haber, and Joe Naulty. Mary Grace Tavel, staff, was also present.

 

FCCDHH Members Absent: Evan Goldman, Randy Ellsworth, John Jackson

 

Call to Order1:10 PM

Welcome by Chris Wagner, Chair. FCCDHH members introduced themselves. Interpreters, sound technician, and CART providers were introduced. Members of the public attending the meeting also introduced themselves.

 

The Legislative Committee and the Information and Referral Committee met.

 

Tanya English presented the content of the FCCDHH.org website, solicited ideas and led a discussion about concerns.

 

Cecil Bradley made a presentation to council members on Division of Vocational Rehabilitation services. A handout of the PowerPoint presentation was provided.

 

Wayne Jennings presented information to council members regarding the Division of Blind Services, specifically services for persons who are dual sensory impaired.

 

Karen Anderson, Department of Health Liaison to the council, joined the meeting.

 

Public Hearing convened at 3:30

Members of the public were instructed to complete public comment cards if they wanted to present before the council. All FCCDHH members introduced themselves and accessibility services providers were introduced.

The purpose of the Public Hearing was presented by Chris Wagner, Chair of FCCDHH.

Comments were provided by 21 members of the public.

 

Chris Wagner reported that he has been contacted to discuss emergency preparedness for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind individuals and participate on a work group. There will be a small conference on December 13th to support this work. One of the issues is how to best locate this population during emergencies.

 

 

Chris Wagner thanked all public attendees for their comments and described the next actions of the FCCDHH in response to the comments.

 

Recess until Friday, November 18, 2005 at 8:00 am

Meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM.

 

FLORIDA COORDINATING COUNCIL

FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

November 18, 2005 Meeting

 

Homewood Suites, Pensacola, Florida

 

FCCDHH Members Attending: Chris Wagner, Julie Church, Evy Friend, Eloise Williams, Carolyn Franklin, Lisa Schaefermeyer, Sarah Harris, Rick Kottler, Stan Gustetic, Tanya Ward English, Joan Haber, Carol Christopherson, Laurie Gaylord, Joe Naulty. Karen Anderson and Mary Grace Tavel, staff, were also present.

 

FCCDHH Members Absent: Randy Ellsworth, John Jackson, Evan Goldman

 

I. Call to Order at 8:10 a.m.

a) Welcome

Chris Wagner welcomed everyone and all members introduced themselves and Chris introduced all of the accessibility accommodation service professionals.

 

b) Approval of the Minutes

August 4-5, 2005 minutes were reviewed with no suggestions for revisions.

Joan motioned to approve, Sarah seconded, all voted in favor of approving minutes.

c) Financial Report/Status

The financial report was presented by Mary Grace. $216,283 was encumbered as of last meeting and of the $250,000 total budget, $147,646 was left by the start of this meeting. The difference was due mainly to travel expense. Misty Burns has applied for unemployment and this amount is now coming out of the FCCDHH budget ($1595.25). A question was raised by Stan about whether Ecisive has completed all of their deliverables. Tanya said that deliverables have not been completed and that she would not support a continuation of website management. A discussion ensued about encumbering budget dollars and the need for closer management between Stan and Mary Grace on budget expenditures. Stan said he would check on what it would cost to make name signs for everyone. Lisa reported that the Licensure Task Force has identified a consultant that will work for $1000 and he is proceeding with the purchase order process. Stan recommended that information on the consultant be shared since dollars were being expended by the council to support him. Sarah moved that the financial report be approved. Julie moved that the motion be tabled until a written report can be reviewed by members. Stan seconded. Mary Grace will send out the report on Monday. A discussion occurred regarding Sunshine Law requirements and appropriate behavior of council members.

 

II. Public comment discussion

a)Sarah remarked on the comments about police officers in the local areas who seem to not have sensitivity. It would be helpful to post information on the website regarding legal/medical accessibility issues. Chris commented that a letter could be sent to FDLE. Julie commented that deaf issues could be included in the mandatory training for police officers. Carol indicated that previous efforts to do this have been unsuccessful. Chris indicated that the council has a clear role to approach state agencies with advocacy issues. Laurie reinforced the need to be positive in our approach for advocacy.

b)Tanya raised the question about the gap between newborn hearing screening failure and required reporting by audiologists when a child is diagnosed with hearing loss. Stan provided information on this issue. Laurie further commented about the follow up issues and counseling of parents by the hospital staff after the children fail screening. Karen addressed what the Department of Health has done to provide written materials and education to hospitals.There continues to be a need for education of hospital personnel who provide screening results to parents.

c)Joan reported that she will contact SHHH to see if she can get permission to scan and put the hospital kit and sensitivity training on the FCCDHH website.

d)Joan also would like to pursue the comments about the new theaters being built in the Pensacola area and follow up on getting captioning services in those new theaters.

e)She also expressed concern about the apparent lack of knowledge of the public on assistive technology available. There is a need to include this information on the website. There was discussion of Deaf Service Centers and FAAST as being resources for assistive technology. There is a need to be careful so that it does not look as though the council is endorsing any one type or source of assistive technology on the website.Eloise said that it was important to have inclusion/exclusion criteria for what goes on the website.

f)Joan also raised the issue of having e-newsletters that are distributed from the website so that new information or council meeting results, advocacy, resources, etc., could be shared.

g)Chris indicated that the public concern was about the expense of visual fire alarms. He suggested writing a letter to the State Fire Marshal or appropriate state office to request their assistance in getting visual fire alarms at lower cost to citizens who are deaf and hard of hearing. There are federal grants available that may be able to be submitted to obtain funds for flashing fire alarms. Carol said that her local area has a program for citizens to receive free flashing fire alarms. Eloise said that she has been working with the program that is providing free fire alarms to seniors to include the flashing fire alarms. She suggested getting the information out to senior centers and assisted living facilities.

h)Eloise said that there needs to be inclusion/exclusion criteria for technology providers or other businesses on the website.

 

III. Legislative Report

Julie reported on discussions of the Legislative Committee. Lisa reported that FRID has developed draft language for a licensure bill with the hope to have it included for consideration in this legislative session. Julie provided a written and verbal review of legislative items. Council members need to be speaking to their legislators about council issues.

 

IV. Medicaid Reform Presentation

Presentation by Karen Woodall on Medicaid Reform information and how it may impact the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind populations.

a)There are concerns about the particular approach of the Governor?s reform of Medicaid. The purpose of Medicaid reform is to reduce annual costs that have been rising to a substantial portion of the state budget. When Florida draws down federal dollars they are matched at60 cents on the dollar provided by federal dollars and 40 cents provided by the state. If a state does not draw down its allotted Medicaid dollars they will be diverted to another state.

b)SB 838 from last session established a Medicaid waiver in 2 areas of the state. The fundamental premises of the waiver are 1) place a cap on the amount of federal dollars that can be drawn down so the state cannot spend more under the waiver than we would have without the waiver, and 2) shifting the mandatory and voluntary recipients to managed care (HMOs, provider service networks) that would allow the managed care to determine the scope and duration of services they provide. There would be mandatory services but now are many optional services.This could affect their choice to cover services like hearing aids. There is fee for service data but the data on historical HMO expenditures has not been collected. The waiver would set prices for services for 5 years based on information that is already low (FL is 38th in amount of coverage for services) or speculative.

c)Enhanced benefits account is a concept that will support healthy behaviors like smoking cessation, etc., then an individual would receive extra points on their Medicaid account which would allow them to earn extra services like bandages and hearing aids.

d)Changes in cost-sharing is allowed, like charging co-pays. Currently a company can?t deny service if the co-pay is not made. The new system would require that individuals pay co-pays. People could choose to apply their Medicaid waiver dollars to an employer?s healthcare coverage plan.

e)There will be healthcare benefit counselors to assist people in making decisions. There will be a fixed amount of dollars per individual and a catastrophic provision, but once the money runs out it is gone. Stan commented that private insurance is looking at a similar capped coverage and catastrophic provision.

f)Council members were urged to review the written materials to understand more of the information and concerns about the Medicaid waiver.

g)There is a special session scheduled for early December where legislators will be voting on the Medicaid waiver. They could say yes, no, or ask for additional planning. If the legislature were to vote to not allow it to move forward it will likely reoccur in the regular session for more discussion.This is a special agenda item of concern by the Governor who is behind the movement and its urgency.

h)Chris commented that this is a concern as there are already significant concerns about lack of sufficient funding support for deaf and hard of hearing issues now and that a letter from the council may be warranted.

i)A letter was sent to all legislators last week that was signed by 85 organizations showing unified concern about Medicaid reform.

 

Chris thanked Ms. Woodall for her presentation on Medicaid Reform

 

V. Task Force for Medical Accessibility.

Rick reported that the task force meeting that had been scheduled was cancelled due to the effects of hurricane Wilma. It will be rescheduled for January 27th. The Developmental Disability Council approached Rick to ask him if they wanted to expand the task force to include DD issues. Rick did not see that this would be advantageous for the purposes of the council but the DDC contact was invited to join the meeting. Bob Mather from the DOJ civil rights group who is also deaf will be presenting at this meeting. He is pursuing having participation by all important stakeholders (FMA, FHA). The meeting will be held in Winter Park at the Center for Independent Living. Rick also described civil rights actions against Department of Children and Families on behalf of an individual who was removed from his home for 4 years without evidence of wrong doing. Chris asked for a copy of the 1999 settlement agreement between DCF and HHS. This will be distributed via FCCDHH staff.

 

VI. Media Accessibility and Captioning

Joan provided an update. She thanked members for writing letters to the editor at their local newspapers. Improvements have occurred but many complaints about captioning have continued. She suggested that the council consider sending another letter to the TV station. There was a lawsuit supported by MOPIX that has resulted in rear window captioning in all of their theaters. The biggest problem with the effort to increase captioning is poor publicizing of captioned movies and this results in poor attendance at the captioned movies. Another issue has arisen because of lawsuits resulting in only rear window captioning in AMC theaters, which means that consumers will not have a choice of captioning methodology. Consumers prefer open captioning so this lack of choice is a concern. The MOPIX lawsuit has removed the responsibility from the film makers and put the onus on theater owners. Joan has a list of all major film studios in US to ask them to provide their films in a format that can be made accessible. The council needs to support and publicize availability of captioned movies, encourage people to become educated on the different captioning methods, and actively advocate with film studios to make all films accessible. Joan suggested that the council write a letter to all the studios and ask them to provide more, if not all of their films, in a format that can be shown on Rear Window Captioning, open captioned, or DTS digital and make a commitment to the consumers of their films that all movie-goers can understand and enjoy their films. Tanya suggested that the letter to film studios be copied to NAD and SHHH and other organizations to encourage them to also advocate for captioning services and that Joan?s report be posted on the web in addition to her first captioning report.

 

VII. Emergency Preparedness

Chris presented on emergency preparedness that will occur in Tampa on December 13th. Emergency managers, members of the Florida broadcasters association, and several state agencies and consumer organizations have been invited to attend this meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to share the concerns of the council regarding emergency preparation and to provide specific examples of issues. A video tape is being prepared that will show different ways that emergency reports on TV can be provided and problems that have occurred. Chris described information he has collected regarding emergency preparedness based on a recent meeting at Gallaudet on accessible emergency information and communication that he attended in Washington DC that was supported by the Department of Health Bioterrorism Task Force. The goal is for Florida to establish a statewide comprehensive plan for emergency preparedness. Issues such as captioning or visual communication availability in emergency shelters are just one area of concern. Use of text mail DHH alerts was discussed. A concern was raised about how the Deaf community would be contacted in the case of a chemical- or bio-disaster when people are instructed to stay inside, rather than to evacuate. Other issues related to the state plan or emergency preparedness activities were discussed. Tanya suggested that the minutes of the meeting be shared with the persons who were invited who did not participate in the meeting. In addition, Gallaudet has a team of mental health professionals who are on-call to come to Florida to help Deaf and hard of hearing individuals who have been affected by a disaster.

VIII: Website Inquiry Follow Up

Tanya reported on website response protocols for individuals contacting the council through info@fccdhh.org. There is a wide variety of content that needs to be responded to. Mary Grace described how she has handled this to date. There are 3 categories of emails that have been received: (1) congratulatory (2) requests for information (3) requests for help for individuals.Chris reported that we have no control over what people write in. So Mary Grace has tried to answer the simple referral or congratulatory messages and sends the others to Chris who indicates which of the council members or suggested others she should contact to obtain an answer. Request was made for Mary Grace to prepare a general summary of the inquiries to present at each council meeting. Evy said that when an email inquiry is passed on to the Department of Education that she would instruct staff who answer the email to copy Mary Grace in their response. Evy asked that brochures be shared with the Department of Education so that they can be distributed through DVR, DBS, and at the school DHH contact meeting in early spring. Chris indicated that he would prepare a letter of thanks to involved legislators, the Governor, and Secretary of Health and include some of the FCCDHH items.

 

IX: Information and Referral

Tanya reported on the Information and Referral committee. There needs to be oversight of different website sections by different council members. Mary Grace will contact members to assign sections of the website based on preference. There has been a communication problem with Ecisive that has interfered with progress on the website. A lot of information has been forwarded to Ecisive to post on the website. The council supported Tanya?s authority to continue to work with Ecisive and make decisions related to content for the website.

 

X: Informational Items

Informational items were discussed. There are about 500 pens, 170 magnetic clips, 185 cell phone jellies, 5000 brochures, 675 DVDs, and 1600 magnets.There is a finite amount of products and a decision needs to be made about how they can be allocated. Tanya suggested that the brochures be sent to every deaf service center, Center for Independent Living, and state agencies. Brochures will be sent to Rick to distribute at the Deaf Service Center meeting in January. The 5000 brochures list council meetings through May so they need to be distributed by the end of June.

 

XI: CART Credentialing

Tanya English presented on the CART credentialing for the 2006 report to the Governor. The purpose is to protect consumers. There is a shortage of CART providers in Florida so it is premature to move toward CART licensure at this time. Tanya reviewed specific recommendations made regarding CART and condensed text services. The task force contacted other states for their actions on CART credentialing, reviewed the variety of condensed text services available and formulated a model training program including some supporting materials. They also discussed CART eligibility standards for credentialing and a CART credentialing board composition and an associated credentialing board budget. In Florida it is currently not possible to have the vehicle for CART providers go through the court reporters association as the association ispursuing licensure for court reporting. Tanya reviewed all of the aspects of a self-supporting credentialing process that were addressed by the task force.Tanya said that 55 people had self identified as CART providers, and only about 5 of those are certified to the level at which the proposed credential would support. There are many realtime court reporting service providers who are capable of taking training to become CART providers. There is a shortage of CART providers that is resulting in remote CART providers being contracted with for educational interpreting. Tanya suggested the council consider a budget request to support some CART training per the task force recommendation as a means to initiate forward momentum in increasing the number of trained CART providers by having 70 trainees per year. She requested that the task force continue for another year so that training and credentialing be pursued and take actions to encourage the prospect of setting up licensure and a training mechanism for next year. Chris suggested that since there is not a recommendation for licensure of CART providers that the council look toward submitting a report to the Governor and legislature in 2007, which is not a requirement of the statute that guides the council?s actions.Laurie suggested that the task force gather data about CART services over the next year to verify that there is a true need to develop training and licensure. Discussion was tabled until after the presentation by the interpreter licensure task force.

 

XII.Interpreter Licensure Feasibility Report

Lisa Schaefermeyer provided a few comments. A total of 7 task force meetings occurred at a cost of $35,000-$36,000 for both the interpreter and CART meetings. Final work needs to be done with the consultant to complete the report recommendations. Lisa requested that a teleconference occur of all FCCDHH members to discuss final adoption of the report as written.

Ali Blaylock presented on the Interpreter Licensure Task Force recommendations for the 2006 report. There was a licensure survey that indicated that the interpreters in Florida who provide manual communication for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing are in support of licensure. The task force reviewed current national credentialing and licensure of other states. Florida benefited from the mistakes experienced from other states. National and other state assessments for interpreter evaluation were also considered. They also considered the variety of languages and ethnical and cultural diversity of the Florida. Recommendations were for 7 licensure categories to be developed. Each of these categories was described in detail via a PowerPoint presentation.The task force needs to do a Sunrise Law review needs to evaluate and document that without this licensure that there will be harm to consumers and also need to review cost effectiveness and benefit to the state.

Council members discussed the recommendations of the task force regarding what to provide in the FCCDHH report to the Governor.Comments about the drafted report will be sent via email to Ali Blaylock who will work with the consultant to make revisions. Council members will convene at a teleconference call on December 2nd at 10:00 to make final recommendations toward adoption of the 2006 report content.

 

XIII. New Business

a)Tanya moved that the FCCDH continue to support meetings of the CART task force to continue to discuss CART and SSP credentialing issues for 2 meetings between now and the February council meeting. Rick seconded the motion, passed unanimously.

b)Evy shared information on the Department of Education revision to the deaf and hard of hearing rule with extended deadline for submission of comments until December 30th. She described changes that have been recommended. It is recognized that a technical assistance paper will be developed to provide additional information for guidance to school districts beyond what is now included in the proposed rule revision. Comments from the public will be considered, revisions will be made as DOE deems appropriate, general counsel will review and approve with an anticipated release of the rule revision in the spring.

c)Sarah made a motion to send a letter to the FDLE to request sensitivity training on deaf and hard of hearing issues. Julie seconded, all approved.

d)Rick made a motion that a letter be sent to the governor and Speaker of the House and President of the Senate expressing the concerns of the FCCDHH about Medicaid reform. Stan seconded and all were in favor. Laurie requested that a copy of the letter be sent to all council members so that they could pass it on to their local legislators.

e)Joan made a motion to write a letter reminding TV stations in Florida about the mandatory captioning starting January 1. Sarah seconded, passed unanimously.

f)Joan made a motion that a letter be sent to Regal Cinemas who is responsible for this region to express our appreciation for their commitment to captioning movies in this area. Lisa seconded, all approved.

g)Joan made a motion that a letter be sent to all of the major film studios in the United States with copy to national organizations (i.e., NAD, SHHH) asking them to continue their commitment to make their films accessible to people with hearing loss by making them accessible in the most formats possible. Julie seconded, passed unanimously.

h)Hearing Loss Association of America is the new name of SHHH. Joan expressed concern that Carol and she were appointed to the FCCDHH as constituents of SHHH and that they would not want to loose their seats on this Council.

i)Chris commented that at the February meeting council members who have terms expiring July 31 express their feelings about continuing on with the council so that there will be sufficient time to approach the Governor?s office about appointment recommendations.

j)Joe requested funds from the council to support his travel to other advocacy activities on behalf of deaf-blind. Chris replied that travel can be supported by the council to support activities of the council.

k)Stan made a point of clarification that the Chair has the ability to receive support from the council to attend conferences or meetings on behalf of FCCDHH; this is not extended to the other members of the council.

 

XIV. Meeting Announcement

February 9-10, 2006 quarterlymeeting will be at the Radisson Plaza in Orlando.

 

XV. Meeting adjournment at 3:58.

 

 

 

 

 

 


FLORIDA COORDINATING COUNCIL

FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

November 17, 2005 Meeting

 

Homewood Suites, Pensacola, Florida

Summary of Public Comments November 17, 2005

 

Written comments: